


Treelight City

by Kelblue_Fire18



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adoptive family, Attempted Sexual Assault, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Mention of Death, Other, Self-Defense, finding the things you lost in life, friends since kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-09-07 01:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16844554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelblue_Fire18/pseuds/Kelblue_Fire18
Summary: The story of one who on the journey to find her true family discovers something more extraordinary than ever imagined.Alli Darrow grows up in a town, with a loving family, loving friends, but with no way of knowing her true past. One day, everything changes.She discovers a land hidden from her town and encounters many new people and unique creatures, including the beautiful Queen of the land, whom she feels she had seen in one of her dreams. The sudden discovery throws her into an epic journey to find the family she never knew and save the city from the darkness plaguing them all.





	1. Prologue

Stars have been glowing in the night sky since daytime has changed to evening. The moon even lit up the darkness for people who are walking out to see better, helping them find the path to a place where they are heading or home. 

No one knows it better than two people, a man, and a woman, wearing cloaks to cover themselves from anyone suspicious of them. 

The woman, even though wearing a large hooded-coat to cover her expression, paced back and forth in the woods with a worried look in her eyes. 

The man, however, is not very worried at all, but with a calm and sincere expression and leaning against a nearby tree, while waiting for his friend to arrive with an important person to save. 

“Where is he?” The cloaked female, in her early thirties, whispered, afraid of the fate of their other friend. “I’m starting to think he might not have made it with the child.”

“He’s just late, Carla,” the cloaked man replied softly. “There’s always a delay or something very urgent whenever he is on his way to us.”

“He better be here soon, or I will personally make him remember to be earlier than usual afterward.” 

Soon, a loud cry from a bird-like creature appeared over them in the night sky, and the man looked up above with a proud face. 

“Ah., there he is now,” he said, as the giant bird landed, being ridden by a larger man holding a bundle in his arms.

“Hey, guys,” the larger man softly greeted them, mainly because the bundle, which turns out to be a small baby, was sleeping peacefully and undisturbed. “Sorry I took so long. The poor kid was pretty traumatized by everything back there.”

“You’re late again, Brennon,” the cloaked woman whispered angrily, as she walked over to him. “If this happens again, I swear-”

“Cease this fighting right now,” the other cloaked man softly lectured the two and walked in between them. “We’ll speak about this later. But for now, let’s focus on finding the child a safe place for her to grow in.” 

The larger man gave the sleeping baby to the cloaked female, and they strolled through the woods in silence with the creature not far behind the trio.

*****

Eventually, they came to the house belonging to the married Darrow couple, who may soon to be the parents of the baby. As they are walking towards the front door, the hooded woman began to speak out her concerns about the infant. 

“Melachai, I understand that this is for her own good, but I’m truly worried about her. If they don’t accept her, she may have to end up in an orphanage, or worse, a girl’s home. Do any of you have an idea what they can do to her there?”

“They shall not put her in a place of such sort. They will raise her like the daughter she is going to be soon to them. Til then, she must not learn about the truth of her past, our people, or our culture.” 

A thunderous roar came out from the farthest part of the woods beside the Darrow’s household, shaking the trees and causing the birds to fly off their branches. The larger man of the trio watched the distance with a small frightened expression. 

“Let’s just put her on the doorstep or something. They’ll get angrier than that if they find out about this.”

“Yes, I suppose we have to say goodbye to the princess now.” The cloaked man nodded to the hooded woman, who gently laid the sleeping child on the doorstep, and stroked her single curly bang. 

“I wish you that Aria, the goddess of pure light and the sun, bless you with protection and faith over you.” She then places a tender kiss on her forehead and stepped back to make room for the larger man. 

“I’m pretty much looking forward to seeing you again soon, kid. Don't let anyone ever try to bring you down.” 

The bird-like creature came forward and lightly pressed its beak against her small head. Lastly, it was the cloaked man’s turn to wish the baby good luck.

“May the ancestors look after you, young princess. May they look after us all.” He placed his hand on top of her forehead, and soon, a mark of a red bird glowed for a bit and disappeared on her tiny wrist. 

“Good luck, Princess Aaliyah.” 

The larger man quickly rang the doorbell, knowing that it will wake the Darrows and the now awake and crying baby, getting the trio with the creature to hide back in the woods in a flash after taking one last look at the child. 

As soon as they did, a blonde-haired woman with her husband found the wailing infant on the steps and he picked her up while she searched the street from the door with no avail, and they brought in the calmed infant in their safe home. 

The cloaked woman fidgeted at the thought of the young baby living with normal people, but she felt a soft squeeze on her hand, turning to see the cloaked man beside her and smiling gently. 

“She’ll be alright,” he whispered. “She’s going to have to get used to their own culture as she gets older. But right now, we’ll wait for her to come back and save us all, even if takes years for us to endure.”

*****

And the child did get used to the normal people’s culture later on. 

The night after Jack and Ann Darrow, the couple who lived in Daleville, Alabama, had found her on the doorstep without any explanation, they had planned on adopting her into their home, and they renamed her Allison Faith Darrow, but they nicknamed her Alli after she has said the first part of her full name at the age of two. 

*****

The playground was filled with laughing and screaming children on a warm summer day, as Alli and her father walked down the sidewalk to meet a certain friend of his. As soon as they reached the part of the playground, he decided to let her go and play before heading over to a bench where his friend was sitting. 

As soon as she was out of his sight, she noticed a small golden orb, floating above the ground, but not moving a single muscle. 

The two-year-old giggled slightly and walked over to touch it. Before she could, the orb moved as quick as lightning and switched to another spot, and it moved, again and again, each time she went over to try and make physical contact with it. 

By the time she tried to reach it, it led her to an open area in the woods not too far from the playground, as the image of an eagle and its baby fly around her, making her smile with excitement. 

She then looked up and saw the very unique sight in front of her. 

The light, though it makes it not difficult for her to see, revealed a beautiful woman with long hair and a golden dress flowing behind her gracefully. Her soft eyes are glowing as brightly as the sun, but then changed back to the color of white, and landed on the small child. 

Alli titled her head in confusion, which the woman did the same playfully, a small grin on her gentle face. 

Then a small light came up from behind her and a tentacle-like arm floated all the way up toward the child who grabbed it gently by her small hand. She looked at it with great curiosity and traced her fingers around the arm as the tattoo on her arm glowed brightly. 

“Alli!” 

The long-haired woman and Alli looked up to where the voice of Jack came from, and as soon as they both did, the woman in the light used her abilities to pick up the two-year-old and carry her back to where she is out of the woods before Jack came to her, whose mark still glowed before dying out.

*****

Ten years have passed, but things have changed for the young girl. Now 12 years old and still having traces of the mark, Alli is the official older sister of Caleb Alexander Darrow, recently at the age of 2. 

First year in middle school, and ready for another round to make new friends. 

Her auburn-brown haired put up in a ponytail and wearing a short-sleeved shirt and comprise with blue sneakers, ready to take on the challenges of middle school, besides the fact she has to endure hearing the warnings of boys from her father. Ann had told her it’s what fathers do for their children.

After getting dropped off by her mom, she entered the entry doors of Daleville Middle School, with her backpack of supplies for learning. 

*****

Break time came at the end of the first block, letting students enjoy some time off from learning. It also gave Alli the perfect opportunity to relax and doodle away some ideas. Drawing and painting are her favorite hobbies that began at the age of five. 

While she is sketching, however, she didn’t notice a young girl with hair down to the waist walking to the back of the school, not knowing that she is being followed by a couple of boys until she saw a cruel grin on each of their faces.

She felt like they meant to hurt the girl, so she followed behind them without being seen, and as soon as she caught up with them, she found the boys verbally harassing the girl.

“Just leave me alone, please,” she begged, shaking and crying uncontrollably. “I just want to be let alone.”

“Shut up, girly,” the first boy, brown hair on each side, yelled at her without any care. “You’re pathetic and worthless. No one’s gonna love you when you’re around.” 

Alli felt her heart break for the poor girl, being bullied by a mean person, and the next thing began to make her feel anger within her.

The boy bullying her started to hit her on the cheek first, and then in the stomach, causing her to fall down on her knees and sobbing. 

Soon, Alli felt herself running towards the boy and punching him on one side of the face. He fell down to the ground while holding his side and glaring at Alli and the girl behind her. He can see the rage in her blue eyes, even when he is standing back up.

“Leave her the hell alone,” Alli growled the words softly, not moving away from her protective stance in front of the blonde.

“What did you just say?” He asked, his glare not leaving her.

“You heard me. Leave her alone now.” 

By then, a small group of kids heard the commotion and looked at what was happening between the four. A blonde curly-haired boy with his friend stood in front of the crowd, prepared for anything that is about to happen to the girls.

“Why won’t you stay out of this, freak?” the bullying boy said, in an attempt to act tough and ignorant towards her. “She’s no concern for you. Plus she doesn’t deserve to live in this world.” 

Those words made the blonde girl’s eyes fill up with tears and cower behind the blue-eyed girl. However, Alli wasn’t going to let him hurt her like this again.

“You want to get her, you have to go through me first!” She yelled out the last part before running over to the boy abusing the blonde girl with her fist ready to hit. 

He never had time to dodge it, since she was faster than him, and her knuckle finally connected to his nose, which is now bleeding profusely, and making him cry out in pure agony. 

She then kicked him in the stomach, the same way he did to the poor blonde, and he hunched over to wrap his arms around it. Groaning, he was about to throw a punch at her, but he was slower than her, and she swerved from it perfectly, before landing a kick behind him in the back. 

The bully fell to the ground in the face, his arms still holding his middle part, then rolling on his back, face up and knocked out. The crowd watching the two fight cheered, for the bully, known as Michael James, is beaten by a fearless 12-year-old girl, who stood up to him and for the blonde female. 

The curly-haired, blonde boy and his friend both looked at Alli in awe, his green eyes meeting her blue set. 

She gave a small smile, and he smiled back in return before a teacher came by with a student leading the way. 

*****

Sam Rivers, the girl who had been bullied by Michael, was checked over, and except for a hand-shaped mark forming on her cheek and a sore stomach, she was alright. Her father came to the school to pick her up after hearing that his daughter is in the nurse’s office at the end of the day. On the way to his truck, Alli can see him through the principal’s window holding Sam and soothing her, prior to putting her in the back and driving off down the road. 

After a lecture from her parents and a relieved hug from both of them, Alli went up to her room and she became stuck in a daydream about the Rivers girl she had saved earlier in the break area. 

Her blonde hair and golden eyes stayed in her mind as she processed the fight that happened between her and Michael. She never did anything to him, yet he had beaten her relentlessly and called her the worst names he could think of. 

It’s her right to stand for others that needed her help the most, not to stand by and watch them get hurt. 

*****

The week after the incident, Alli found Sam in her class and Michael out of school due to the injuries made by her. 

Soon, during break, she saw this time the blonde girl with only the boy and his friend who watched her knock the living hell out of Michael at the back of the school. As she hid in the corner, she heard the conversation between the three.

“So, I saw that girl beating Michael up because he hurt you. Her name is Alli, am I right?”

“That’s her. I’ve heard that she is pretty good at drawing. I looked over her shoulder one time, and I saw her sketching out a mermaid. Almost reminded me of Ariel from ‘The Little Mermaid’.”

“Hey, yeah. I saw some of her drawings when I passed by her during lunch. She really is good at that stuff.”

Alli walked out of her hiding place slowly, still focused on the conversation. 

“So, I saw your father with you during the open house last week. Didn’t your mom wanted to come there to meet the teachers?” 

At that statement, Sam felt tears threatening to come out of her eyes. No one has ever talked about her mother, not even her father at all. 

Alli saw that she was about to cry, and not caring that she was seen by the boys, went over to comfort her. 

“You don’t have to tell us about your mom if you don’t want to,” she said softly. Sam nodded and wiped away the tears away from her eyes.

“I just wanted to say to you, from yesterday, thank you for saving me. Michael was scaring me and he didn’t care if I was hurt.”

“No wonder he was so mean to you,” Alli replied. She had seen the rage and carelessness in his eyes while she was fighting with him. “I bet no one has ever stood up to him.”

“From what we all saw, you actually did,” she heard the curly-blonde boy say and turned to see him grinning slightly. “You literally knocked the crap out of him back there. That was pretty epic.”

“Thanks. I’m Alli.”

“I know. I’m Cody, my friend here is Josh.” Cody motioned over to his friend, who was looking at Sam in a very intrigued state. 

‘He’s in love with her, I can tell,’ Alli thought to herself. 

They spent the remainder of break chatting up about Michael and the way he treated others before they went off to class, but they saw each other again during lunch and continued the chat. The process started over again, especially on holidays, when they would meet one another at one of their families’ parties. 

Eventually, Matt Todds, a new boy from Massassuchets, came into the lunchroom, and sitting next to Alli one day, he saw her drawings and complimented how good she was. A minute later, he was invited by the others and told them about his life back in Massassuchets, becoming eventual friends with Alli, Sam, Josh, and Cody. 

At the end of the school year, a treehouse came into her view after her mother parked in the garage, revealing a tired but grinning Jack with a hammer and small streaks of paint on his face. He explained that he found out about her friendship with the other kids, and he thought they would use a treehouse as their hangout. Alli responded by hugging him as tight as she could and squealing in excitement. 

The next week, Cody and the three others came over to see Alli in the den, and they planned to hang out there every day a summer. She began to feel that her life is beginning to feel like her home...


	2. First Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of the story.

She bolted awake when three thumps-knocks, to be exact- went off to another door. 

Another one of those dreams again, she thought, of the same people she remembered but couldn’t quite place. 

This has been going on since she was fifteen, although she had kept it to herself. Her parents wouldn’t believe her, anyway. 

Alli got out of her bed while rubbing her forehead. 

“Just ten more weeks and this will be officially over soon,” she said to herself. 

Already eighteen and graduating high school. Brown-auburn hair locks, with bright, blue eyes and fair-tanned skin. 

She looked at the clock on her bedside table, reading 6:13 a.m. “I got plenty of time to get ready.” 

She sat up and pulled out her clothes for the day. 

A few minutes later, she saw her mother, a middle-aged blonde, knocking on her little brother’s door. Her eyes turned to see her daughter showing sympathy towards her attempts to get him out of bed. 

“I can already tell your brother is very persistent, Alli,” she said to her. “Won’t get out of bed, even though school’s almost done for the summer.”

“Want me to get him for you, Mom?”

“Sure, just be careful, please.” Ann stepped beside to let her into the boy’s room. 

As she tiptoed quietly to where Caleb is sleeping, she saw the poster of Doctor Who on the wall above him, and an idea popped into her mind. She stooped low enough to whisper into Caleb’s ear. 

“Caleb,” she said quietly, shaking him lightly by the shoulder. 

He moved a little, and pulled the covers closer, so she shook him a bit harder. 

“Caleb, wake up,” she whisper-shouted. 

“If you’re trying to get me to get up for school today, it won’t work, Al,” he responded, still attempting to sleep. 

Alli seemed to give up, and she stood up, ready to head out through the door. “Oh, well, guess I’ll tell Dr. Who that he won’t drop you off at school for the day.” 

At that statement, he shot up so suddenly he almost fell off the bed and making her laugh. 

“What, for real?!” he yelled in pure excitement. 

“You better hurry, Caleb-bear. He’s going to leave if you don’t get your little butt ready.” 

She messed up his hair and went out the door, even though she got a glare from Caleb about the nickname and her messing with his hair locks. 

“The Dr. Who trick,” said Ann, smiling at her eldest daughter’s successful attempt and watching him get dressed as fast as he possibly could. “Genius.”

“Glad he had that poster with him all the time,” Alli replied, before heading downstairs.

*****

After dropping off Caleb, who gave her a pouty look after learning about the trick she did on him, at his school, she drove herself to her school. 

Daleville High School, where the bullies and torment may be no more, she thought to herself. 

Her eyes and hair are two things she is being picked on for, but she would care more if the bullying involves her family and her life. She always wondered why she didn’t have any of her mom or dad’s genes, but she wouldn’t dare question it to them. She thought it would be a tough topic to talk about. 

The hallways are busy like she always knew it had been all year long; only there are excited chats about the activities people are doing for the remainder of the summer. Some are about plans to the beach, others are to the mall on some days, the rest hanging out and going out to parties. 

But the one thing Alli is looking forward to for her final summer is traveling to New York City. She might have remembered heading there with her dad, but she wanted to get there and have her own experiences for the first time in her life. And hopefully, when she gets accepted to a college there. If she gets accepted.

She is still daydreaming about her future as she put her stuff in her locker when she suddenly felt a hard tug on the back of her shirt and pulled back by a hand. 

She got spun around and fell to the ground, her backpack no longer behind her. The blue-eyed girl looked up, and seeing the look of pure cruelty, wanted to punch right out of Michael James, who is holding her bag away from her. 

Behind him are his two pals and his girlfriend-at least, that’s what Alli doesn’t believe-Brittany Ambers, the rich girl in the school, the platinum blonde. She wanted to hate her enough to lose her cool, but she doesn’t want to get in trouble for getting into a fight without thinking. 

“Hey, Darrow,” Michael sneered at her recklessly, her bag in his grip. “Did you lose this?”

“Give it back, Michael,” Alli said, and tried to grab it out of his hand while attempting to keep control of her calmness. “I’m not frickin’ kidding. Give me back my damn bag now!” 

She only received a push sending her down to the ground and a couple of laughter from his pals and Brittany. A few people saw what was going on, although they wanted to stay out of this one. 

“Face it, Darrow,” he said, uncaring about what he had done. “You’re a freak in this school, and I bet no one here even cares about you here.”

She stood up from the floor, keeping her anger at bay. Whatever’s going on inside her, she had to keep it under control, no matter the circumstances. “No, I know some people who care about me more than you jerks.”

“Oh, yeah? Like who?” Brittany asked mockingly. 

When Alli didn’t answer, she strolled over to her, her hands on her hips and a dark smile on her lips. 

“Face it, Darrow. You don’t belong with us, you belong nowhere else at all. And even if you do, there’s no way anyone here will love you.” She spat the last part in the blue-eyed girl’s face. 

Michael’s two buddies looked like they are about to beat her, but they didn’t notice that they left an opening to her escape. 

A smirk appeared across her lips, and the next thing they knew, she sped between them, hit Michael clear in the gut, grabbed her bag out of his hands and dashed down the hallway, while he is left holding his stomach and the two guys in a daze. 

“What are you waiting for, idiots?! Get her!” He shouted at them. 

They finally got the message and ran after Alli, leaving Brittany, who is holding him in her arms, concerned. 

Alli had a headstart, though, when she turned the corner leading straight to the gym, with the two boys behind her. She checked the time on her phone, before dodging a teacher and shouting an apology. 

‘8:03, I’ve got plenty of time,’ she thought to herself, her legs carrying her as fast as they can. 

Eventually, she entered the gym, which, lucky and unfortunately for her, is empty, finding her a hard spot for the pair to find her. A few minutes later, they came in, out of breath and searching for her. She kept herself quiet because she knew if she made any sound, she’d be caught without hesitation. 

One of the guys looked her direction, and she froze before he shook his head, thinking he must have seen something else. Soon, the two boys left the gym closet, as they gave up on finding her. 

After checking that the coast is clear, she made her way to her first class, rushing through the door on time before the bell even rang. Her art teacher looked up to see Alli panting and grinning at the same time. 

“Looks like you’re nearly late, Ms. Alli,” she said. “Otherwise, I’d have to give you a late pass, or maybe detention.”

“Glad you didn’t, though,” Alli took her place in a table. “Got chased all the way here this morning.” 

She only earned a chuckle and a smile as she readied herself for the lesson. 

*****

Focused on her doodling, she didn’t notice a figure coming up from behind her until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and lift her up, causing her to drop her sketchbook in the process. She cried out in shock, thinking that it was one of the guys chasing her earlier. 

“Woah, calm down there, Auburn!” 

She stopped suddenly because she recognized the nickname from him. Then, she felt her body being put down softly, and she turned to see a freckled, smiling face with green eyes. 

“Cody! You scared me! Don’t do that!” She laughed while playfully punching him in the arm, although she wanted to be serious and mad at him. 

“Why not? You loved it when you were younger. I thought it was funny.” She only pouted at his response. “Plus, I loved calling you that ‘Auburn’ nickname because your hair’s very red.” 

“It’s not TOO red.” She mumbled to herself, covering her glowing cheeks. 

Cody has been one of her four best friends since middle school, for nearly 7 years of her life and school. He stayed the boy who loved music and bringing his favorite guitar to places, the boy with freckles, blonde and curly hair and green eyes like the trees, but he grew from a small kid to a fine young man. Alli had noticed herself changing over the years as well, but she also stayed the girl who loves to sketch in her notebook, with the eyes blue as the sky and hair brown and red mixed together. 

There is also something growing in her each day, but she didn’t want anyone to worry about her, or possibly, both discriminate and ban her. 

Cody picked up the sketchpad she dropped and looked through them until he stopped at a drawing she is working on. It showed a woman holding a baby girl, another girl, only about to be four years, the same woman with a man smiling down at possibly Alli, and the baby girl that she is working on, which strangely resembled her perfectly. 

“How long have you been working on these, Alli?” He asked, rather intrigued with her recent doodles, but the auburn-haired teen snatched her book away from him suddenly before he can even get a second glance. 

“None of your business, Cody,” she said, clutching it as close to her as she could. 

He shook his head, grinning in understanding. 

“C’mon, I think we better get to class.” He stood beside to let her pass and followed behind her. 

*****

By the time she found her friends and their usual lunch hangout, she was still stuck in her thinking about the dreams she has been having currently. The woman somehow looked almost like her, she can see, plus with the strand of hair on her side. 

She didn’t know that Matt was trying to catch her attention until she felt a nudge on her elbow. 

“Huh? Sorry, you said something?”

“Ah, forget it,” Matt went back to his lunch for a small moment. “You’re probably thinking about something else, are you?” 

Before she could answer, however, Josh had his sandwich taken out of his hands and smashed by Michael’s buddies. The five teens saw where the two guys came from, and they can see him and Brittany with her two friends of her own making insults and cruel faces at them, even they tried their best to ignore them. 

“There goes my sandwich,” he sighed defeatedly. 

Then, Alli pulled out her own sandwich and gave the other half to him. 

“You can the half of mine. It’s ham and cheese, thought you might like it.” 

Josh took the piece and smiled at her thankfully. 

“Thanks, Alli,” he said. 

She then noticed Sam’s worried expression and her mindlessly poking at her own lunch. 

“Sami, what’s wrong? You’re not hungry or anything?”

“It’s not that. It’s...well...” She sighed unhappily. “Next week marks the day my mother died.”

“Wow, Sami,” Josh said, heartbroken for the blonde. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Not your fault, Josh. My mother’s family blamed me a few years after she died, though I felt I have done nothing wrong.”

“I don’t think her family had any right to blame you for that. Your father’s a good guy, raising you on his own.”

“Yeah, he sure is. Though, I’m a bit worried about him for a while.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“He’s been acting strangely for a while now, he wouldn’t sleep, or eat for a few days or more.”

“Have you tried talking to him?” Cody asked her.

“I did, but he only gave me short replies when I tried checking up on him.”

Alli’s eyes lit up at the idea she had for Sam. “What if, maybe next week, we can go with you and your dad and we can help you prepare for the anniversary of your mom? We can even help your dad lift up his spirits.” 

The other teens nodded at the idea. So did Sam, who wiped the tears from her eyes. 

“Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate it, really.”


	3. Second Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment when everything began to change.

It had been over a few hours since she arrived home from school, but she hadn’t even heard from her father yet. Sam was getting more and more worried that something had happened to him, but she wanted to stay positive, for her friends’ sake, and try to occupy herself with some homework she had from her classes. 

Her father is the only person she had left in her life after her mother died when she was younger. No one else on her mother’s side of the family wanted nothing to do with her and even refused to visit her often, saying that it was all her fault that her mom had passed. Her father, though, was not ashamed of raising her the best he can. He had given her unconditional love and happiness, despite working long hours and being busy all the time in his job. 

“You remind me so much of your mother, Sami,” he would say to his daughter, messing with her hair and grinning, something he would do to her as a child. “Always holding your head up high and ignoring life’s problems.” 

Sam had brushed her hair up into a ponytail and was about to work on her homework when her phone suddenly rang. A horrifying feeling grew within her as she picked up her phone and press the ‘Answer’ button, raising it to her ear. 

“Hello?” She asked uncomfortable and nervous. 

“Yes, is this Oscar Rivers’s daughter?” A voice came on the other end.

“Yes, who is this?”

“We’re sorry to inform you, miss, but it’s about your father. You have to come to the hospital as soon as possible.” The voice sounded very urgent, and Sam’s eyes grew in fear and formed tears as they said the words that struck her in the heart. 

“We’re afraid...He’s been attacked.”

*****

Alli and the others came in through the hospital doors as fast as they could, after getting an urgent call from Sam, who had sounded like she was crying and trying to hold back her sadness. Alli, Cody, and Matthew are very shocked at how scared she was, but Josh was really worried about her and her father the most. He truly loved her more than anything else in the world, but he wouldn’t let anyone, besides his friends and parents, know about his love for her; he was afraid of what someone would ever do to her if they ever found out about it. 

The four teens eventually found the room Mr. Rivers, who is lying still and had marks on his face, is in, and a red-eyed Sam looked up from her arms before she stood up quickly and hugged Josh, taking him by surprise. She sobbed quietly, not wanting anyone to hear her at all. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Sami,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and patted her on the back. “We’re here now. It’s okay.” 

“We came right after you called us,” said Alli worriedly. “Did the doctor say anything?”

“No,” the blonde girl sniffled, as she dried her eyes. “But I’m getting scared for Dad. I can’t lose him, too. I don’t wanna lose him like I lost Mom.”

“Sam, you won’t,” Josh replied, stroking her cheek. “You’ve still got us. We’re all here for you.” Then a doctor, a man in his mid-sixties, came in with a clipboard in his hand. 

“Samantha Rivers?” He asked, glancing at Sam. 

“Yes, sir.”

“I appreciate you coming here as soon as possible, Ms. Rivers.”

“So, whatever the hell happened to him?” Matthew asked the doctor doggedly. 

“We’re not sure, but a passerby found him in an area a few miles near the Daleville Park. He had severe cuts all over his arms, shoulders, and a very large bite on his leg. We’re uncertain what kind of bite it is, but it’s draining away his life somehow. We’re not sure how long he’ll hold, but I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do.” 

Sam covered her mouth with pure terror and shook her head. She didn’t want to believe it. Her own father’s death, but she didn’t want to know that it’s true. She lost her mother, she can’t lose her dad, too. 

A groan came up behind the teens and the doctor, and they turned to see Mr. Rivers moving his head slightly, and opening his tired eyes. Before anyone could stop her, though, Sam rushed over to the closest side of the bed and hugged him as tight as she could. 

“Daddy!” She cried, happiness and grief mixing in her eyes.

“Hey, Sami,” he raspily said, attempting to smile. “Really glad to see you, butterfly.” She smiled at the mention of his nickname for her. 

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you the whole time.”

“Don’t worry about me, Sam.” Mr. Rivers grunted as he felt a pain in his chest. “Just some complications from fighting that thing back there.” 

“Don’t talk now, Daddy,” Sam said, trying to keep back her tears. “You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be. I swear to God, Dad, you’ll be alright.”

Mr. Rivers turned his head slowly, and his gaze fell on the dark-orange eyed boy. “Josh Smith?”

Josh took a few steps, visibly nervous about the man’s last words. “Yessir?”

“You and your friends take very good care of my little butterfly for me, kid,” he said raspily. “I know you love her very much. I know you do. And if you’re thinking about marrying her one day, you have...my blessing to love...and nurture her with all your life. Take great, good care of my little girl. Whatever it takes, Josh. Whatever...it...takes...” 

His eyes closed slowly and the pillow sunk under his head. 

Sam gazed at her father’s pale face before she shook him lightly, then harder as the grief overtook her. 

“No, no, daddy. No, no, no, no! Daddy, daddy! NO!” 

But she didn’t get that far because she felt arms wrap around her and take her away from the lifeless body of her beloved father and back into the hallway. Josh had his arms holding her shivering body, while Alli, Cody, and Matthew watched the doctor and two nurses try to bring back Mr. Rivers as best as they could. 

“No, no, no.” Sam kept on mumbling the words over and over until the rest of the teens’ families have arrived. 

*****

The funeral only lasted for five hours, but for the teens, it felt like an eternity. Josh and his family were the first people to give their speeches about Oscar Rivers. Cody and his own came next, then Matthew and his, then Alli and hers. Then, Sam was the last person to give her speech. 

“Oscar Rivers was a good man, an amazing father and...the best friend anyone could ask for. He took special care of me since I was born, and he dedicated his time and love to me like he had promised Mom he would. He raised me and loved me unconditionally, even though Mom’s side of the family didn’t care about me. He showed me the best of the world, how someone will love you for who you are, and you can keep going no matter how bad things get.” She sniffed, but she kept speaking. “I love you so much, Daddy. You’ve been the best father I could wish for.” 

Mr. Rivers’ side of the family was kind enough to let Sam stay with them until she graduated high school, and it was really a miracle that they lived not too far from where she lived and Daleville High. Her dad’s sister had called her earlier and told her that a room is ready for her whenever she is. 

At the end of the funeral, Sam had already packed up her bedroom and brought along the few items that were from her parents; a locket passed down from her grandmother, her father’s T-shirt that he had given to her since it was too small for him but made a perfect sleep shirt, and a picture of her and her father at a water park when she was younger. She really loved that water park, he used to say to his friends when they ask about that old photo. 

“Sam?” Sam turned to see Alli and Caleb standing in front of her, a small box in her hand. “Caleb wanted to give his condolences for your father, so he gave you this.” 

She handed the box to her friend, and Sam opened it to see three lilies, her mother’s favorite flowers, and a bracelet, which says in a small tablet, “Keep on believing and hope will come.” 

“I know it’s really not much, but Caleb wanted it to be special, so-” She got cut off when Sam immediately hugged her, still holding the box in her hand. 

“Thank you so much, you guys,” she sobbed softly, and the blue-eyed girl returned the hug, also crying until her parents came to take her and Caleb home. 

*****

A very bright light came first, then blurred faces and voices appeared all while a small cry of a newborn infant wailed in the bright room. 

“It’s a girl!”

“Yes, I told you it’s gonna be a girl! I told you!”

“Hey, no! I wanna see! I wanna see!”

“Oh, my god, she’s so beautiful!” 

Before the vision started to fade, two faces, one of which is a female’s and sweating, appeared and blurred.

*****

It has been a few days since the funeral, and Alli has started getting dreams of being in a room with different people and seeing a woman that looked almost like her. A walk in the park would help clear it right off, hopefully. But most importantly, she was thinking about her friend and how she is handling. 

Three days after Sam’s father died, his side of his family had promised her that they would take care of her; of course, her mother’s family sent their apologies, but they still refused to see her or support her because of her mother’s death years ago. She had never done anything wrong with them; she had left them alone only once. 

Her hand trailed slowly on the mark of her wrist. Why did she feel like she had seen from somewhere before?

Alli kept on walking, lost in her thoughts until she felt a palm land on her shoulder hard. She quickly spun around to see the face she loathed her whole life. 

“Hey, Alli. I've been looking everywhere for you,” Michael said to her, rather darkly. 

She sighed. Not her best time. 

“What the hell do you want, Michael?” She asked him impatiently. 

“Nothing much,” he replied to her shrewdly. “Just wanted to chat with you, that’s all.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” 

“No, it’s nothing too serious. Just a small chat, okay?”

“Alright, but make it quick.” 

“So, uh, the graduation prom is coming up and I was wondering if you are interested in coming with me?” 

He slowly wrapped his arm around her waist, but she was quick enough to grab his wrist and twist it, causing him to cry out in pain. A few people stopped and watched what was going on, but she didn’t care. 

“Not interested, Michael,” Alli growled, releasing his wrist. “Find someone else to take, like your girlfriend, for example.” She walked away from him in a different direction. She never made it that far, though, before Michael seized her by her arm. 

“You mean Brittany? She won’t know about it. Just go out with me, it’ll be fun.” He said rather predator-like. 

Alli fought to get out of his grip, but he gripped tighter and tighter the more she tried to pull away from him. Suddenly, she kicked him in the crotch, catching him off guard and forcing his hold to loosen from her arm. 

‘Good, a head start,’ she thought to herself. 

She sprinted away from the man who is still on the ground and holding his groin in pain. But there was one big problem for her; her car is in the same direction he must have taken to get to her, and she is only a couple good miles away from it. She would have to take a different route. She could hear his voice from far away, meaning that he is searching for her. She would have to find somewhere to hide soon. 

It didn’t take too long for her to find one when she stumbled across a large opening of a cave. 

“Let’s hope he won’t find me in here,” she thought, and she quickly went through the strands of leaves on the opening of the cavern, while Michael’s voice, possibly pissed off as hell, faded away. 

The feeling of relief didn’t last long, as it got closer to where she is hiding in. She scooted slowly away from the opening, before feeling something hard touch her fingers. The auburn-haired girl quickly covered her mouth to prevent herself from gasping as a silhouette of Michael appeared behind the leaves and disappeared a few seconds later. 

“Oh, thank god,” she said softly, said slumped down against the wall. “Guess I’m stuck here for a while.” 

But then she stopped. She thought she heard...a voice? An echo? From where, though? 

Something in her mind told her to follow it, find out where it is coming from. And she never had time to stop herself. 

As she got to the part where the light would no longer be found, Alli whipped out her phone to turn on the flashlight. As soon as she did, a monster-shaped face appeared suddenly, causing her to jump back and cry out in fear; she was lucky it was only a mural of a monstrous creature. 

“Jesus, why the hell did that scare me?” 

But as she turned, the blue-eyed girl gasped and turned on the light more brighter. On the walls and ceilings of the cavern, paintings and murals of people and creatures, human and animal-like, are spread over the place. 

She trailed her hand on the murals as she stared in awe and wonder at the drawings. To her, they looked like they were made maybe a hundred years ago; some of them are fresh from a decade ago. Her eyes then landed on two women; one surrounded by fire, the other by a pile of snow. The fire one strangely looked identical to her, save a bird-shaped mark on her wrist and wings on her back. 

A faint voice, as well as laughter and the sounds of rushing water, came directly into her ears. They were both getting clearer the more she got closer to the source. Another blanket of vines hung from the top of another opening, almost like the ones from the entryway. Slowly and surely, she turned off the flashlight of her phone, pulled a few strands back and stepped out into the light. 

What she saw next instantly took her breath away. 

The sounds of a waterfall confirmed her hypotheses, and the view of the opening revealed itself to show hundreds- no, thousands of medieval-like houses spread across the vast land. The sun on one side of the vast land soaked it with its golden rays spread out in different directions. A giant lake and a few rivers are also spread, as well as millions of trees, across the ground below her. A few mountains stood in its place on the horizon, as a kingdom-shaped tree loomed over the small houses, which looked like a village of some sort. 

“Wow,” she said in wonder. “This is incredible.” 

She then started down the trail that would lead her to the village below. 

As she traveled down the trail, she could the village clearer and closer to her, and each step she took, more people came into her view, as well as a large tree in the middle of the town. She could even hear a few birds calling form above her, and the rustles of trees beside her, but the buzzing chatter of people in the village drowned out the noises of the woods as she approached it. 

Waves of laughter and shouts entered her ears as she finally entered the village with a large tree in the center of the city square. On both on her sides, alleyways are filled with various vendors and a few women can be seen washing clothes in baskets filled with soapy water. A group of children ran past her, one of them crawling under her on their knees as if to not knock her over. They almost reminded her of herself when she was younger; she missed that a lot. 

At the center of the town, the large tree finally came into her view, some of the branches covered by small floating lights. A few vines hung close to the ground, while some fully touched the grassy earth. Alli let one touch her fingertips and trace it through her fingers. She walked around the tree slowly in a circle, staring at it in astonishment. Out of everything she had observed since she was growing, this was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. 

The teenager didn’t notice someone-or something come up behind until she felt something hard hit her gently in her back. She gasped in fright but became relaxed and shocked at the same moment when she saw it was not who she feared it was, but rather a different creature. It had the head of a bird, an eagle no doubt, and the body of a lion with white-golden wings folded on each side, its tail swinging slightly. It looked at her curiously, as she stared back at it in return. Finally, the creature took a few steps towards her, still looking at her in admiration. Alli knew she wanted to touch it, but at the same time, she was afraid of what would happen if she made one faulty move. 

“Bright thing, isn’t he?” 

A voice said behind her, and she whirled abruptly to face a man, who looked to be in his mid-forties. His hair looked rough, as well as his beard, which is small; yet the bangs nearly hid his dancing, calm expression. As he studied the girl in front of him, she couldn’t help but feel she had seen him before, from somewhere. Her dreams? The same man that was in her visions every night? 

“Are you from around here?” His speech knocked her out of her thoughts immediately. 

“Uh, actually, no,” she faltered. “I’m-It’s difficult to say, really.” 

The animal behind her bumped her in the back again, showing that he is trying to catch her attention. She slightly laughed at his attempts, even though she is still frightened of it. 

“And you are?”

“Melachai, I’m the storyteller here,” the man replied softly. “I could tell that you are from someplace else, that is not far from here.” 

“Right, um, that’s what I meant by complicated to say. But how did you know that?”

“Your threads, they are not like ours here.” 

She looked to see that she is wearing her jogging shirt and a pair of comprise. She mentally slapped herself on the head for not putting on different clothes. “Yeah, it’s, uh, it’s complicated to say…”

“A Dark One!” someone shouted in a language she didn’t understand at first. “A Dark One in the village! Everyone run!” 

As soon as whoever said it, the people started running to various places, trying to find somewhere to hide. Alli felt caught up in the ensuing chaos before Melacahi grabbed her by her hand and pulled her with him behind a cart full of items. 

“What the hell is going on?!” She yelled over the noise. 

“A Dark One,” he responded, dodging someone trying to get past him. “They never come here except for prey.”

“Why are they here now?!”

“My baby! Someone save my baby!” A woman called out in fear, trying to escape another citizen’s arms to reach her child. 

Alli peeked from over the wagon to see a small girl, about the age of three or four, attempting to scoot away from the creature, to no avail. It stalked slowly towards her, its claws digging deep in the ground, and its tail swaying behind it. Red eyes stayed on the girl, not concentrating on anyone else but her. Its jaws showed its sharp teeth as drool disappeared from its lips. 

Alli located a long pole near her, and having come up with a plan, she picked it up and jumped over the cart. Melachai was the first to witness her attempt to rescue the child. 

“No, don’t!” His yells didn’t reach her ears on time; she was too focused on saving the little girl. 

Just as the monster was about to pounce on its victim, she swung the branch straight into the side of its face and it flew far from where it could reach the child. Alli picked her up and gently shoved her to her mother, where she ran straight into her arms. 

“Go! Now!” She demanded, her eyes never returning to the monster who is regaining its posture. Without any thought, the mother and child ran to the safety of the people and Melachai, who could only stand there and watch the event unfold. 

The monster growled at its opponent, its four legs readying for an attack. Its eyes red with hunger and rage, it was clear that it is looking straight at her. Its nails dug deep in the ground as it circled slowly around her, Alli following the same movement, her hands gripping on the pole in front of her. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was scared for the lives of the villagers rather than the creature in front of her, who is ready to charge at her. 

The minute it did, she managed to dodge it well, much to her bewilderment. She broke off from her confusion, and swung the pole at the Dark One again, only for it to snap it in half. She fell back when it pulled it from her hands, and landed on the ground, with no weapon in sight or near her. 

Her back met the wall of a fruit aisle in an attempt to escape.   
Satisfied with the victim right where it wants her to be, the Dark One slowly crept up to her, its backbones moving up and down one at a time, signaling an attack. Her eyes grew in fear, knowing that she is trapped and she had nothing else to defend herself. She closed them shut, waiting for her fate when the Dark One lept at her in an instant. Unfortunately, she didn’t feel its claws on her; she could only hear its distressing roar and a weapon being fired. The next thing she heard, someone called out, “Van Wallen!” and the same weapon being fired. 

She opened her eyes, to see another man, almost older than Melachai, with a crossbow of some sort and aiming at the monster, who managed to avoid the last few shots. His neck-length hair flowed behind him as he dodged each and every slash from the Dark One, as well as his dark long coat. Alli remained stuck on the ground until she is being pulled gently to safety by Melachai behind the cart. 

As they watch the fight go on, her mind began to feel numb and fuzzy, for she only gazed at the creature which was battling her savior. Where had she seen this creature before? In her dreams, maybe? She couldn’t remember, but wherever she had seen it from, it looked like it wanted to kill her. 

The final blow on the Dark One and its cry of agony came into her ears, and she gazed to find the other man’s sword had been struck through its chest, its body bent backward by the force of the weapon. Its orbs then rolled back as it fell to the ground dead following the man’s blade being pulled swiftly. He breathed and muttered something in the same language, before converting to face the girl with Melachai. 

“I never thought I would get to meet someone as brave as me,” he said to her, half-heartedly beaming at her. 

“Who are you?”

“Christian Van Wallen, at your service,” the man replied, slightly bowing while taking off his hat.

“He’s the best hunter in all the city of Treelight,” Melachai spoke up. “He has been pursuing down monsters such as the Dark Ones since he first came here.”

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” Alli greeted Christian politely, then revolved at Melachai. “But what are the Dark Ones anyway? And why did they come here?”

“They have been browbeating us since we first appeared here in this home. Shadowing our stock, hunting whenever they please. And even worse, Vivianne runs them all.”

“Vivianne? Who is she?” 

“She is the goddess of the darkness, and she controls those very creatures that hunt us today.” 

Alli pondered about where she had heard about this woman before. Vivianne, goddess of the darkness, and she commands those things. But why is she feeling like she had seen them before? Her mind became fuzzy the more she thought about them. 

“I never got your name when you first arrived,” Melachai spoke up. 

“...It’s Alli,” she responded. It wasn’t until she checked her phone, and her eyes grew in shock. “Oh, shit! I’ve gotta go!”

“Where are you going?” The storyteller called after her. 

“I’m heading back home! But don’t worry about me! I can look after myself!” She called as she spun to walk back a bit before returning to her running forward, the people and the creature watching her leaving. She transpired through the same path she had taken when she first entered the city, through the cavern she had hiding in while trying to hide from Michael. 

“Are you positive she could be the one?” Christian asked the man beside him. 

“I don’t know, but she reminds of someone I used to know.”

*****

The minute she stepped out into the light, she breathed a huge sigh from her chest; not just because she had a crazy day, but Michael was nowhere to be found. ‘He must have gone,’ she thought. 

Treelight City, it was a blur to her before she came here. Why is she feeling like she had seen that place, those people, like it was all déjà vu to her? 

“I swear to God,” she muttered to herself on the way home. “I’m gonna go back, and I’m gonna find out more about this place, about everything.”


	4. Third Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains attempted sexual assault, language.

Her mind still set on the city, Melachai, the creature she could guess a Griffin, she couldn’t concentrate on the lessons that her teachers were giving. Throughout the whole day, she could imagine what that Vivianne looked like in person, and why she sounded familiar in her head. But most importantly, she couldn’t get her mind out of the place she had seen. 

Sure, the city is beautiful, but there was something she couldn’t put her finger on. The tree in the middle of the village square, the drawings on the cave walls, the castle towering over the small center. They looked exactly like the ones she had seen in her dreams. 

But what does that all mean? A message? A calling that is beckoning her back? Whatever the matter, she would have to go back there and find out. 

There was only one and a half month left of school, and everyone was getting excited about the plans they have made for the summer. But she was too busy to care about it, especially during P.E. 

Queen Annabelle of Treelight City, daughter of the late Halbert and Karolina. 

Those names stuck with her. Why do they sound familiar to her? And why does she keep feeling like she had seen those people, that place before? 

“Heads up!” Someone yelled, and Alli barely had enough time before she flipped backward out of the way as a dodgeball flew past her, nearly hitting her in the leg and landed on the floor. 

Everyone stared in shock as Alli stood back up, but she was more confused than she ever realized. 

“How did you manage to do that?” A student asked her in bewilderment. 

She was too lost in her thoughts to acknowledge. But whatever it was, something had made her do that. 

An old instinct? A reflex action? What could that mean for her?

“Alright, everyone! I think we’re down for the day!” The gym teacher’s voice resounded throughout the gym, as well through Alli’s ears. “Pack up and move it, people! Let’s go!” 

The students went to the rooms of their genders and came out in their normal clothes rather than their gym threads. As soon as they did, they went separate ways, to break before their next classes. 

But the moment she stepped out, she felt eyes glaring at her from the other side. She couldn’t find anyone, even over peoples’ heads, so she shook it off and kept going. 

Halfway through the exit, however, an arm suddenly slammed against the doorframe, stopping her from following the other girls. She was met with a calm expression of Michael. 

Though she highly suspected that he is calm. 

“What the hell do you want this time?” Alli asked him impatiently. 

“You and I need to talk now,” Michael stated darkly. 

“Save it for later,” she answered. “I have to get going.”

She attempted to relocate his arm, but he didn’t move a muscle. His face, filled with anger and greed, didn’t change either. 

“Michael, please move. I need to get going now.”

“Not until you and I talk,” Michael snarled. 

His face was only a few inches closer to her face, his breath making her skin shudder. 

Was he angry from what happened back at the park? She thought. Or is he trying to make me uncomfortable?

She could care less about what he thinks. He pretty much deserved it after trying to assault her anyway. 

She pouted at him, holding on to her backpack as she tried to find another way around him. “If you’re trying to ask me out to this dance, forget it. I’ve already got my eye on someone else. Besides, can’t you take out Brittany to the dance yourself?”

“I already told you what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her!” Michael argued. “Now let me talk right now!” 

“No time for this bullshit, Michael! I have to go,” Alli enunciated. 

With all her might, she pushed down Michael’s arm from the doorframe and was about to make it through the door. But he caught her by her wrists, causing her to let out a shrill cry, and pushed her against the wall. 

Her head hit the wall nearly hard enough to knock her out, but she was able to keep her consciousness at bay. Her backpack fell to the floor as it slid right off her shoulders. 

“I’m not screwing around, Alli,” Michael growled at her in a low voice. “You better let me talk right now, or so help me, you’re going to get it.”

“You think you’re so tough when you hurt people?” Alli retorted. “That doesn’t make you a man! That makes you something else!” 

She struggled to get out of Michael’s grasp, but they tighten every time she managed to find a way. He clasped her wrists collectively, his one hand holding them tightly, so strong she was sure it would leave bruises on her. 

His other hand, the one not holding her wrists together forcibly, grabbed her face and turned it to meet him. Alli attempted to turn it away to pry his hand off of her, but the grip was too powerful for her to get away. His lips forcefully met her own, and his tongue overpowered its way into her mouth. 

She moaned in fear, and she bit his bottom lip, tasting the blood seeping from the bite. He yelled out in agony as his mouth pulled away from her. 

Even though that got him to stop kissing her, he still had her wrists trapped mutually tight as he massaged his bleeding bottom lip. 

Anger and hatred glowed in her eyes as she caught up with her breath from the assaulted kiss and stared at Michael, whose lips were now covered in blood. 

“Strong comeback,” he chuckled darkly. “But a way to make you say yes is better than never.”

His hand trailed up her leg before he reached under her shirt. 

Alli squeezed her eyes shut when she felt something grow within her. A flash of images flew around in her mind, her eyes suddenly meeting a golden solid color and the last thing she felt was a hard grip on her chest. 

Cody searched the area for any signs of Alli over the heads of a hundred students before he saw the heads of Josh, Sam, and Matt; they were also worried about where Alli could be. 

“Hey, have you guys seen Alli anywhere? I can’t find her,” Cody asked them once he had reached them at their table. 

“I thought she met up with you,” Sam answered to him. 

“Maybe she needed to stay behind and do something,” Matt recommended. 

At that moment, someone called out from the gym. “Help! Somebody get help!” 

Cody instantly ran to the source in the gym before anyone could stop him. His mind was set on Alli’s wellbeing and to take down whoever was trying to screw around with her, particularly Michael. 

Apart from the student who called out for help, Cody was the first to find Michael laying on the ground unconscious, his mouth and nose covered in blood, then Alli, who was leaning back against the wall, her shirt ripped apart from her fighting back and her eyelids closed. Cody ran over to her, pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around her. 

Alli flinched when she felt a shirt being wrapped around her, but she relaxed when her eyes met Cody’s forest green pair. 

“How did you manage to get in a situation like this?” He asked her. 

“Let’s just say it takes someone to be deviating enough for me to knock him out,” she replied. 

He smiled and lifted her up bridal-style, leaving All’s art teacher and a few others to check up on Michael. 

*****

“I got what?!” Alli practically yelled at the top of her lungs. 

“Apparently, he claimed that you started the whole fight, which, of course, the principal believed, and that resulted in you getting kicked out of the dance,” Josh finished, as he sat across from her, Sam and Cody sitting on opposite sides of him and Matt leaning against the wall. 

Not long after Michael was revived, he was immediately pulled from the nurse’s office to the principal’s after Alli had given an explanation for her “reckless” action. Even she had said she fought back in self-defense, the principal had said to her that he would think about the consequences of her action. 

As soon as she was dismissed, the nurse was quick to check on Alli for any other injuries. Apart from the bruises on her wrists from Michael’s harsh grip, she was alright, nothing too serious. But when she was asked what happened before and after she punched Michael, she replied that the last thing she remembered was Michael gripping her chest, then nothing. 

Alli groaned and placed her hands in front of her face.

“At you’re not suspended from school,” Matt remarked. 

Cody, Josh, and Sam gave glares at his direction. 

“Well, thanks for letting me know, guys,” Alli said, a small smile on her lips.”And I’m gonna guess Mom and Dad are not gonna be happy when they find out.”

“Well, do you want one of us to drive you and Caleb home?” Sam piped in. 

“I’ll drive you home, if you want,” Cody spoke up before Matt or Josh could finish their sentences. 

The two glanced at Cody in confusion, as his cheeks were light red. 

Alli’s lips curled into a light-hearted grin. “Thanks, Cody. I appreciate it very much.”

Cody grinned back at her. 

*****

A loud scream of a child was the first sound that appeared before the image changed from total darkness to one of fire. The flames surrounded a village, while people ran for their lives in different directions, the child’s cures amongst the people’s. 

A creature’s roar rang in the atmosphere as the flames engulfed the burning village, one of the Dark Ones leaping at her. 

*****

Alli shot up from her bed in a cold sweat, a cry echoing from her mouth. Her shirt was drenched wet from the wetness of her head as she panted heavily, the images of her dream racing through her mind. 

Why does she keep feeling like she had seen those things before, apart from back at the city? 

An idea popped in her head. 

Alli glanced at the clock, which read 4:58 a.m.

“I gotta go back,” she said to herself and she leaped from her bed. “I have to go back.”

*****

The sounds of the waterfall and chatter and laughter of the villagers rang in her ears as she stepped through the vines of the cave entrance, the warm sun hitting her skin. Alli walked down the path that she had taken to the city and back, her mind still focusing on why the feelings of that place stayed with her. 

She was too busy processing the thoughts that she nearly bumped into a passing cart and a vendor. She yelped when her heel met a rogue brick from the ground, and her body fell to the ground. Luckily, something caught her and broke her fall. 

Alli glanced from behind to find the same Gryphon from her first visit, his eyes staring at her in wonder like he had done before. He gently pushed her forward, helping stand back up with ease. 

She sighed in relief just as the Gryphon gently nudged her by the arm as a way of saying hello to her. 

“Hey there, big guy,” she smiled at the Gryphon as she petted him. “Didn’t think I would see you again.”

The Gryphon purred as she stroked his feathered head and rubbed his head against her chest gently. When his golden eyes met her sky blue pair, she thought she felt a connection grow between them. 

A bond that started years ago, when she was still a baby? Where has she seen this creature before? 

She couldn’t be sure, but she would—

“Watch out!” Someone yelled in the same language. 

Alli turned around just in time to find a blur of black leaping at her before someone pushed it away from her mid-air. 

The man, who looked to be in the early twenties, and the Dark One landed on the ground far away from where Alli and the Gryphon are, the wolf-like creature snarling and creeping towards the lad. He had a staff of some sort in his hands, steadying himself and not losing any focus. 

The Dark One leaped at him again, but he dodged the attack before slashing the staff at it. 

The Gryphon pulled Alli away from the fight, but she stayed where she is and watched it all unfold in front of her. 

Only after a moment of battle, the Dark One scarified the man in the arm, prompting him to yell in agony, before hitting him with its tail and sending flying onto a fruit stand. 

Alli gasped in horror, covering her mouth before eyeing the staff on the ground. 

The Dark One growled and circled around the man, who struggled to get back up, despite his arm being injured. Panting heavily, he took a quick glimpse at the creature, then squeezed his eyes shut the moment it leaped at him—

A loud feminine yell, a roar from the Dark One and a hard thud reached his ears, and he opened his eyes again only to meet the back side of a young woman, with his staff in her hands, and the Dark One now farther away from them than he realized. 

The girl took a moment to glance at him, her blue eyes meeting his own. Her curly, auburn hair flowed behind her as she returned her gaze back to the beast, which is now eyeing her rather than him. 

She saved my life? He thought in confusion. 

Some of the villagers warned her, begged her, pleaded for her to get away as far as she can, others cheered her on to kill the beast before it kills them all. 

Melachai was one who was silently praying for her to get out of here while she still could, while she is still alive. 

The Dark One bounded at her, but she avoided it perfectly and hit its tail with the staff. It let out a roar of pain before it slashed at her, who dodged it once again. 

“Come on at me, you son of a bitch!” She yelled, determination and fury in her voice. 

The Dark One only snarled at her in response and clawed at her once more in retaliation. 

As she took a step back, the creature took a step closer towards her, unknowing that she is leading it away from the village to the edge of the town. She glanced at the tree with holes, some big enough for her, but too small for it to fit through. 

“That’s it, come on, you bastard,” she mumbled. 

Then she darted towards the large-holed tree, with the black monster behind her. 

Van Wallen and Melachai, having witnessed the whole event, called for the captain to fetch the queen and get the rest of the guards, before rushing over to the fallen man. 

The Dark One chased after her, its teeth shining in the sun as it attempted to bite her. It missed her, luckily, even after she shot through a hole, which she slid through perfectly. 

Alli searched for the staff that had fallen out of her hands while trying to avoid the claws of the Dark One. She eventually found it laying on a seemingly hollow ground behind the tree. 

Just gotta find a way to get to it, she pondered. 

The faceless appearance of the creature caught her off guard, and she yelped and backed away. Its claws went at her once more, but she picked up a rock and slammed onto its wrists when it slashed at her. 

The Dark One let out a cry of agony and began to struggle its paw out of the hole. Alli barely avoided its attacks as she escaped through another hole and headed for the staff. By the time she landed safely on the ground, which could give away at any moment, the Dark One had freed itself from the hole that she had it trapped through. 

She barely had enough time to pick the staff back up and feel a sword being made from her hand before the Dark One landed on her, and the hollow ground soon gave way. 

The villagers, led by Van Wallen, Melachai and the guards arrived at where the Dark One and the strange girl had landed through, only to find a hole created by the impact and nothing more. 

Melachai held his breath, silently praying to the heavens above for her to be alive. 

The moving figure of the black creature caused a few branches to ruffle all at once, and the villagers gasped in horror as the Dark One began to rise up from the hole beneath. 

Has the monster won? Did the strange young heroine die from the fight?

A familiar figure dropping the lifeless body of the Dark One to the earth, panting heavily and holding the staff in her hands while using as support to keep her from falling over, thankfully answered the burning questions of the villagers, who all cheered and applauded for the death of one of the monsters plaguing their land and the heroic deed of the foreign stranger. 

Alli glanced up from the ground to hear the villagers cheering wildly on for her, before eyeing Melachai and Van Wallen first, and then the Dark One on the ground. 

She had killed a creature that had been tormenting a city filled with innocent people, and with her own hands. The feeling of excitement and energy flowed through her, even as she raised the staff in the air, her chest rising for every breath she took. 

The villagers cheered more loudly and wild than before, and Melachai grinned on as some of the people rushed down to surround her—

They stopped suddenly. 

Alli touched her side, but grimaced when she felt burning—and liquid that she could tell is not water. 

She pulled back her hand to find blood, then more of it spilling from her side. Her vision became blurry, and closing her eyes then opening them again didn’t make it go away. 

Her legs gave way, and darkness welcomed her just as she fell to the ground, the blurry figure of Melachai and a few villagers rushing to her. 

*****

“Aaliyah…”

“Aaliyah…”

“Who’s there? Who are you?”

“Aaliyah…”

“Aaliyah…”

“Where…where are you?!”

“Aaliyah!”

*****

Alli shot up from the pillow, gasping and her eyes wide. She stayed that way for only a few moments before she realized that she is not in her room. 

She took in her surroundings. A lighted room having the interior a log cabin would have, a light shining above her, a bowl filled with water and a rag hanging over on the side, and a window that gave away the full view of the village. 

The girl saw that she had no shirt on, but a bandage wrapped around her side, the color red covered by the white of the wrapping bandage. She gently touched it, but a voice stopped her from doing it further. 

“Well, thank the heaven you’re up already,” a woman in her mid-forties walked in with towels in her hand. 

Her light brown hair was scraggly from presumably all the running around, her eyes tired but filled with comfort about one of her patients today. 

“You know, if you’d not touch it, it wouldn’t as hurt as much the bite of a bull beetle.”

“What—“ Alli started, but the older woman cut her off before she could say more. 

“I tried to tell Jameson not to get himself killed, told him not to throw himself in this kind of situation. But did he listen to me? Of course not. He just went up and puts himself in danger. He just went and tried to kill that thing, even though he has no fighting experience whatsoever and is still younger than most Defenders…” The woman chattered on as she tended to Alli’s wounds, much to the latter’s confusion. 

The older woman saw the look on her face and stopped rambling. “Oh, I’m so sorry, dear. I should’ve not said something like that. You know, what you’ve done back there was a stupid, yet brave thing to do. No one has ever killed a Dark One in over a hundred years.”

“Um, thanks,” Alli said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m Alli.”

“Carla,” the older woman replied and grinned at Alli. “I’m one of the nurses here in the city. And as a nurse, it is my duty to make everyone here is safe and healed up nicely after a tough fight. Namely Jameson.”

“Jameson?” Alli asked. “Who’s Jameson? Is he…like one of those handsome, strong-build types of guys who turn to be complete jerks?”

“Anyone I know?” 

She turned to find a man, the same man from the center, with a bandage on his arm where the cut had been. His dancing, dark blue eyes shone in the light and admired Alli, whose mouth was dropped open and her cheeks were red. 

Mostly because he had no shirt on to cover his light-tanned skin, as well as her. 

She quickly pulled up the blanket on the bed to cover her bare upper body after Carla had finished healing up her wounds. 

“Oh, um, no, no, no,” Alli stammered, her cheeks still red as a tomato. “I don’t—I don’t mean that---What I was meant to say was, um…”

The man, whom she now knows as Jameson, chuckled in amusement at her rambling and walked over to the bedside, as Carla got up and put the rag away. 

“No worries,” Jameson grinned, folding his arms in front of his chest. “There’s one thing I cannot tolerate, it’s being called what you have described earlier by only one person and not anyone else.”

Alli grinned lightly, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Thanks for saving my life back there, by the way,” Jameson told her. 

“Actually, I’m not one who likes attention, but…you’re welcome,” Alli replied. 

She then squinted her eyes while she stared at the man in front of her. His light brown, shaggy hair, his dark blue eyes, his half-chubby face. Where has she seen all this before?

“Hey, Jamie!” A new voice called from the outside of the room, and about five more men came through, one of them with a body of a horse; that left Alli amazed and appalled all at once. 

“Hey, Jamie, where have you been? We were looking for y—“ A man with light red, scraggly hair and small beard stopped when he saw Alli. 

His face turned red as his lips curled to a dorky grin, then turned to a charming smile, his teeth shining in the light. 

“Hello,” he greeted in a suave, but playful like manner and took her hand. “Name’s Chance Marlink, haven’t seen you around here before.”

Jameson rolled his eyes at the flirty man in annoyance. Alli giggled lightly at his attempt of teasing with her. 

“This is actually my first time visiting here,” she played along with him, acting as if she is flattered by his manners. “I have never seen a man act like such a gentleman.”

“Apart from my male friends, actually,” she mumbled the last part to herself. 

“Don’t mind Chance here,” a man in his mid-thirties spoke up next. “He pretty much likes to act charming in front of ladies at times.”

The man’s comment earned him a glare from Chance. 

“I’m Hugo Hungerford,” he continued. “You’re Alli, right?”

“Um, yeah,” Alli answered. 

“And the others here are Emilio, Marco, and Tobias,” Jameson pointed at the one with the dark brown ponytail and light goatee, with a bang on one side of his face, then the man with blonde-brown hair, and finally at the centaur with the brown-yellow lower body of a horse with a black tail. 

“And as you can guess, Christian is part of our team,” Emilio said in a Mexican accent with a grin. 

“Wait? He is? But how can you tell he is on your team?” Alli asked them. 

“Because the queen herself appointed me,” Christian replied as he stepped from behind the doorframe, his arms folded in front of him, his lips curled to a smile. “Bet this is your first time meeting the Defenders.”

Alli’s eyes widened in wonder as she stared at the team for what seemed the longest time before she spoke up again. “How…how long have you lived here?”

“For as long as we can remember, about 100,000 years before your time,” Marco answered her. 

“But..that was long after the dinosaurs!” Alli exclaimed. 

“True,” Carla piped in. “But our ancestors moved here when they were given extraordinary powers so that no one else would kill us or use us for them. For example, Tobias’s kind came around a few years after us.”

“And who else was here?” Alli asked. 

“Oh, you never heard of the Elementals?” Jameson asked back. 

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Elementals? Oh, you mean like, earth, air, fire, and water?”

“Exactly,” Christian said. “But there are a few more you missed. Elementals of Lightning, Sacred Earth, Metal, Ice, you name it.”

“But are they all still alive?” Alli asked again. 

“Yes, but some have passed on a time ago,” a new voice appeared. 

Christian, Jameson, Tobias, and Hugo parted ways respectively when a young woman in her early-twenties entered, a girl with ears, nose and a tail of a cat walking alongside her. 

Her brown locks were put up in a ponytail hanging over her shoulder, the end of her light and deep blue dress dragging behind her as she entered the room. Her brown eyes stared into Alli’s sky blue pair, examining her with caution, yet heartwarming. 

“I suppose you’re the foreign girl that saved Stromberg’s life?” The Queen asked her. 

“Yes,” Alli answered as politely as possible and nodded. 

She had never seen a Queen in real life. But even if she did, she wanted to be as polite as she could. 

“Well, I wanted to thank you personally for coming to Stromberg’s aid. The Dark One would have had him killed were you not able to rescue him in time.”

Finally, someone appreciates the help, Alli thought. 

The last time she had saved someone, they had yelled at her before her brother came to go back home, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong whatsoever. 

“Though it was stupid, you’re not too bad,” the woman with the ears and tail commented. 

Alli grinned in response. 

“Just next time, stay close to us,” Christian said to her. “We don’t want you to leave the living world yet.”

“Can’t make any promises,” Alli replied with a small smirk. 

“I’ll say this for you, you have courage,” the Queen smiled at her. “I am Queen Annabelle of this city here…”

“Or as we would like to call her, Nabel of Treelight City,” Chance joined in. 

“You’re the first one to kill a Dark One in over a hundred years,” The woman, now known as Nabel, said to Alli. “I’d say that earned you a drink.”

“That’s kind of you, but I don’t drink,” Alli said, shaking her head. 

“Anyway, is there anything else that I should know?” She asked after everyone cleared out, apart from Nabel and the girl with the ears and tail. 

“Well, Jameson is the city’s best inventor and mechanic,” Carla replied to her. “He’s been our expert mechanic since he was 14.”

“Wow, really?”

“If anything, he even made a kid a prosthetic leg, even though he was poor,” the girl, who was later known as Ginger, told her. “He never refused an offer from anyone, even a kid who lost his leg.”

“That must be kind of him,” Alli beamed. 

“He’s had a bigger heart than anyone else here,” Nabel agreed with her. 

“And what about you?” Alli asked Ginger. “What’s your story?”

“Well, let’s say I was a stubborn type,” she replied. “I was pretty much raised to be the finest ruler for my home, but of course, I ran away and came here. So I can, y’know, be myself.”

“Glad I’m not the only one who could look out for myself.”

At that moment, a man with a curly beard and long hair that reached his upper body appeared at the doorway, his brown eyes landing on Alli first, then Nabel, who got up when she saw him. 

“Hate to catch you so soon, but the leaders would like a word with you back at the castle,” he said. 

“Tell them I’ll be there soon,” she nodded to him. 

“Will do.” The man stopped halfway and faced Alli again. “Name’s Brennon, by the way, missy.”

“He’s not too bad once you get to know him,” Ginger commented, motioning to where the man had gone off to. 

“Anyway, it seems you’ve healed up pretty fast,” Carla finished unwrapping the bandage from Alli’s waist. “Guess you could go home now.”

When it was all uncovered, all that’s left were three long pink marks, traveling all the way from her stomach to her back. 

Great, Mom’s gonna love this, she thought. 

“How far do you live? I can send one of the guards to go with you,” Nabel said to Alli as she got dressed in her shirt, which had been stitched up, thanks to the seamstresses. 

“I don’t live too far from here,” Alli told her. “Plus, I have my own transportation. Thanks for fixing me up, your Majesty.”

“Please, Nabel is fine,” The Queen said. 

Alli beamed at her. 

“So, if I come back another day, you would recommend self-defense lessons?” She asked. 

“I would let Melechai and the Defenders, as well as Ginger, train you,” Nabel responded. 

Alli beamed at her again.


	5. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick update on the story.

For those of you wondering about my well-being and what's going on, ect., I'm doing okay. 

I'm just adjusting to the new chapter that is happening in my life, and it's taking a lot of my time right now. (Not really, though)

Having moved from the UAE back to Alaska in the USA really threw off my timezone, so it was hard trying to stay awake for a few days, and waking up early in mornings, though it did feel good (the waking up part). This results in me trying to work on chapters for Treelight City and my other stories without falling asleep and meeting a lot of writer's blocks along the way at the same time. And I have to draw the sketches that I've been wanting to work on for a while, yet can't get any inspiration for them all. 

So, that sucks. 

But luckily, I will try and get one chapter for Treelight City finished as soon as I possibly can. 

Thanks for your time and understanding!


	6. Something I made for this story and my other AUs...

The oldest was called Annabelle because she was born with grace and beauty. The youngest was called Aaliyah because she lifted up their spirits and hopes when they have lost them. 

The oldest was called Nayana because of her beautiful brown eyes. The youngest was called Auburn because of her reddish-brown curls. 

The oldest was called Belle because she was born in the winter. The youngest was called Autumn because she was born in the fall. 

The oldest was called Nadia because she was filled with hope. The youngest was called Aidene because of her fiery spirit that could be never broken. 

The oldest was called Narah, queen of the wolves. The youngest was called Ailith, the warrior of fire. 

*****

Alternate version:

The oldest was called Annabelle because she was born of beauty and grace. She was called Nayana because of her beautiful brown eyes. She was called Belle because she was born in the winter. She was called Adella because of her nobility. She was called Nadia because of hope that is filled within her. She was called Narah, the Snow Wolf, queen of the wolves.

The youngest was called Aaliyah because she lifted up others’ spirits and hopes when they are lost. She was called Auburn because of her reddish-brown curls. She was called Autumn because she was born in the fall. She was called Emery because of her brave heart. She was called Aidene because of her fiery spirit that could never be broken. She was called Ailith, the Phoenix, warrior of fire.

*****

Another version of this: 

They named the oldest Annabelle for her beauty and grace,   
Nayana for her brown eyes,   
Belle after the winter,   
Adella for her nobility,   
Nadia for the hope she brings out to them and herself.  
They named her Narah, the Snow Wolf, queen of the wolves. 

They named the youngest Aaliyah for lost hopes that she brings back up,   
Auburn for her reddish-brown curls,   
Autumn after the fall,   
Emery for her brave heart,   
Aidene for her fiery spirit that will never be broken.   
They named her Ailith, the Phoenix, warrior of fire.


End file.
